Development
Production of the Series 1 began in 1973. For the 1980 model year, the modernised Series 2 was introduced, with slight modifications occurring later as well.
A sporty GTS variant was introduced at the 1980 Turin Motor Show, featuring wider wheels and flared wheel arches.[2] and minor suspension setting differences to better utilise the wider Campagnolo wheels with Pirelli P7 tyres. A Longchamp cabriolet variant ("Spyder") was also introduced alongside the GTS.[7] It was made by Carrozzeria Pavesi of Milan, and a small number of cars were built to GTS specifications.[8] Pavesi also converted a number of older coupés to Spyders.
After supplies of American-built 351 V8s dried up, De Tomaso began sourcing their engines from Australia, to where the production line had been transferred. The engines were tuned in Switzerland before being installed, and were available with power outputs of 270, 300, or 330 PS (199, 221, or 243 kW).[9] In the eighties another version also appeared, the GTS/E. This was the top-of-the-line version, fitted with twin round headlights and extra spoilers, skirts, and a rear wing.[9]
A total of 409 cars were built (395 coupés and 14 spyders) between 1972 and 1989,[7] with only a couple of cars per year built during the last years. The vast majority are of Series 1 specifications. Some claim that production actually came to an end in 1986, with later cars being sold from stock.[8] From 1979 on, bodyshells for the Longchamp and the Kyalami were built by Embo S.p.A. The Longchamp was never officially sold in the United States, although a number of cars found their way into the US as gray-market imports.[8] The Maserati Kyalami and Maserati Quattroporte III were both developed using the Longchamp chassis and conceived just as Alejandro de Tomaso took over Maserati. The Kyalami was also superficially very similar to the Longchamp, although no body panels were actually shared. The Maserati derivatives used a Maserati V8, however, rather than the Ford unit favoured by De Tomaso.
